The present invention relates to electronic data processing, and more particularly concerns the identification, selection, and presentation of media signals from multiple channels of multiple media sources in a multimedia system.
Personal computers are evolving in several different directions. One of those directions leads toward a larger system including multimedia inputs from many different sources, presented to a user--or a group of users simultaneously--through a set of system output devices which have a configuration similar to that of an entertainment center or a home theater. This type of personal computer converges the capabilities of previously separate systems into a single system having greater capabilities than any of the separate systems, and at the same time reduces cost by eliminating the duplication of components providing the same function in the separate systems. An example of such a "converged system" is the publicly available Destination.RTM. PC/TV system from Gateway 2000. This product permits a user to enjoy the capabilities of both a personal computer system and a high-quality television system at a lower total cost than that of two separate systems.
One of the advantages of a convergence system is the availability of enough computing power to integrate many media input devices, such as direct-broadcast satellite receivers, compact disc and digital video disc players, video cassette recorders, and cameras, and to control their functions from a central point. Moreover, the programmability of a computer permits a system to be built up and configured to the individual tastes of each user, and to allow the media devices to interact with each other as the user wishes. Another potential capability involves employing on-line programming guides to set up and schedule events, such as recording a particular satellite show on a cassette recorder, then playing it back at a specified time.
In order to realize the advantages of convergence systems, it must be very easy for a relatively untrained user to add new features and devices, to prevent devices from interfering with each other, and to present consistent interfaces for all features and devices.
One of the problems in meeting these goals is that individual media sources such as satellite, cable, and off-the-air television each have multiple channels, and their channels are numbered or otherwise designated without regard for the designations of channels in the other services. Each service has its own, incompatible "channel map." Thus, for example, merely specifying channel `156` may be ambiguous between a local cable provider and a satellite service.